Hercule Poirot's Silent Night

May 1, 2023

Since 2014's The Monogram Murders, Hannah has been crafting mysteries starring Agatha Christie's beloved Hercule Poirot, but this is the first Poirot Christmas mystery. At the moment, what happens is as secret as what's under the tree, but note that the most recent in the series, The Killings at Kingfisher Hill, was named a New York Times Best Book To Give. With a 75,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 7, 2023
Hannah’s stellar fifth whodunit featuring Agatha Christie’s iconic sleuth (after 2020’s The Killings at Kingfisher Hall) extends her reign as a master of mystery pastiche. In early December 1931, Poirot is preparing for a quiet Christmas alone when Cynthia Catchpool, the mother of Scotland Yard inspector Edward Catchpool, summons both men to solve one murder and prevent another in the small Norfolk town of Munby-on-Sea. Someone has bashed in the head of universally beloved postmaster Stanley Niven during his recent hospital stay. Vivienne Laurier, a friend of Cynthia’s, is convinced that her husband, Arnold, has put a target on his own back by dedicating himself to tracking down Stanley’s killer, and her anxiety spikes when Arthur prepares to go to the same hospital where Stanley was killed. Cynthia insists that Poirot stay with her and Edward through the holiday, and the pair launches a winding investigation that eventually puts their own lives at risk. Hannah does a superior job of presenting Poirot’s quirky brilliance without overdoing it, and in making Catchpool a fully fleshed sidekick with psychological depth. Golden age mystery fans will be hungry for more.

Starred review from August 15, 2023
Belgium's enduring gift to the annals of detection travels to Norfolk to solve a murder case that grows more and more vexing. Arnold Laurier, the math teacher who's inherited Frellingsloe House, is dying. But before he goes, his wife, Vivienne, has two wishes she conveys to her best friend, Cynthia Catchpool: She'd like Poirot to visit Arnold, who's long idolized him, for Christmas week 1931, and she'd like him to figure out who killed inoffensive Stanley Niven, a patient in St. Walstan's Cottage Hospital, before Arnold takes up residence in the hospital room next door. Poirot agrees to make the trip, and his amanuensis, Scotland Yard Inspector Edward Catchpool, is so devoted to him that he tags along even though it means spending a week with his long-estranged mother, by far the most amusing character here. The timing of Niven's fatal bashing identifies the principal suspects as Arnold's closest relatives: his wife; his sons, Douglas and Jonathan; and their wives, Madeline and Janet. The main reason that Arnold doesn't want Poirot to solve the mystery, however, is not that he's unwilling to implicate his loved ones but that he wants the glory of solving it himself, even if the cost is his own life. Hannah paints such a suffocating picture of Christmas at Frellingsloe House that Poirot's inquiries among the staff at St. Walstan's come as a relief. When the inevitable second murder takes place on Poirot's watch, he applies the principle of "now that it's there" that Catchpool has proposed in a quite different context to unpack the well-nigh undetectable motive for both murders. A fiendishly inventive serving of humble pie, or Christmas pudding, for puzzle-solvers who think they're clever.

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September 15, 2023

Hercule Poirot and Inspector Catchpool are looking forward to their Christmas plans together when all is overturned by Catchpool's mother hectoring them off to Norfolk. There they find an estate about to fall into the sea, a family at odds, and several murders--all of which intrigues Poirot's little gray cells. This fifth in Hannah's authorized new series of Poirot cases (after The Killings at Kingfisher Hill) offers fans of the detective and of Agatha Christie's Golden Age crime novels the pleasures of a slowly unfolding case, a large cast of classic characters (including a bumbling local inspector), red herrings, and out-of-the-blue developments, plus plenty of chances to guess the culprit. Hannah has had plenty of time to craft the Poirot of her series and hits a good balance between Christie's take, the David Suchet TV adaptation, and her own sensibility. Catchpool shines in this outing, pulling forward the action and dealing with his own past and present. VERDICT The Christmas details are light, memorably centering on Catchpool decorating multiple trees while simultaneously interviewing suspects, but the case is heavy and offers much to consider. Fans will devour this novel, but it is also a nice place to jump into Hannah's series.--Neal Wyatt

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2023
Hercule Poirot is spending the week before Christmas with his friend Inspector Edward Catchpool when Catchpool's mother sweeps into their lodgings with an invitation to spend the holiday with her friends at her beautiful old mansion, unfortunately located on a cliffside about to crumble into the sea. She tells them about the recent unsolved murder of a patient at a local hospital, and while this person is a stranger, it is a great inconvenience to her circle, as the patriarch of the family is soon to be admitted to that same ward, and the matriarch fears that he will be the next victim. Poirot comes along for the puzzle, and as Catchpool follows, readers are introduced to a winning cast of English characters and suspects and gain insight into Catchpool from his funny but flippantly callous mother. This is another entertaining whodunit in Hannah's fifth book interpreting Agatha Christie's brilliant and fastidious sleuth (after The Killings at Kingfisher Hill, 2020), with family drama, an intriguing mystery, and a hilarious round of interviews conducted while decorating Christmas trees.

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